Southern Gardening Potpourri for November

Of course we have the huge holiday of Thanksgiving on November 27th. The grocery stores, department stores, the big box stores, will have much food and decorations to purchase for Thanksgiving. Fall leaves, corn, and pumpkins will adorn the shelves with much fanfare. Many will decorate their front doors, back doors, mailboxes and yards with Thanksgiving wreaths, ornaments and other stuff. But unfortunately, many seem to overlook that November celebrates another national holiday, Veterans Day, on November 11th. And on this same date, Canada celebrates Remembrance Day. This Federal holiday is observed yearly to honor all military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. There is also a commemorative ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and in Montgomery there will be participation in Operation Green Light. Also there will be a Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Montgomery starting at Court Square Fountain featuring marching bands, military units and veteran's organizations. These efforts are a tribute to the brave men and women who have served with our nation's armed services. So feel patriotic and join in the festivities.

Garden tasks for November

At this point in time, many of the annuals are either dead or on their last leg. Clean all of these out to make room for more flowers. Work the soil, adding just a commercial fertilizer rather than osmocote. One advantage to this time of year is that we now have cool nights. This is a great boon for pansies, geraniums, dianthus and other fall flowers. November is a good time to cut back perennials and prepare other flowers for the winter. Also November reminds us to purchase bulbs for the spring. Daffodils, tulips and others are now available, even though in Montgomery I do not plant until later. Tulips must be refrigerated for at least 6 weeks, so this is a good time to buy them and put them in the crisper. I plant daffodils in late December or in January. If you buy narcissus, put the bulbs in a shallow dish with some rocks or a special vase with water in order to force the blooms for Christmas or before.

PLANT OF THE MONTH--THE RICE FLOWER

When I was at Trader Joes, I came across the Rice flower or sago flower. It is a woody stemmed perennial shrub which produces a rice-like bloom. It is in the family of Asteraceae or the aster family and they are most commonly pink or white. Hailing from Australia, it is low maintenance, requires sun, and is drought resistant. Also, please abstain from over fertilizing. Rice flowers make great cut flowers, lasting up to 2 weeks with proper care such as providing regular water changes. I have not seen any rice plants here in Montgomery, so I plan on ordering a few to try in my flower beds.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, AND GOOD GARDENING.